AuthorTopic: Why is the World Series played so late? (Read 1687 times)

It's now November and they are still playing baseball that's crazy. Yes I know it will be over tonight regardless of the outcome but let's face it if your still playing baseball in late October now even November I think it's going insanely too long. Football is getting good basketball has started so as hockey there should only be so much going on at one time. Further more what if the Minnesota Twins had made the world series. They would be playing in freezing cold weather right now. Baseball should be done by the end of September early October at the latest. Baseball is a summer sport not a summer fall and maybe a little of winter sport.

The question is how late is too late it now can drag into November. They got lucky this year being LA and Houston but what if it had been Chicago or even worse Minnesota? Is it really good for them to playing in freezing cold weather. It;s a summer sport after all. I think baseball should look into this. Even in the 90's as I recall at least the series always ended before Halloween weekend. Now it starts around the time it once ended.

Hell it was pretty damn cold in some of those recent World Series in Detroit when the Tigers made it. Really it would be kind of nice if Spring Training Season could be shortened a little bit to move the playoffs to send sometime Mid-October again. Granted the Dodgers had one game where there was record heat in the current series. Really though, this has been a pretty fantastic series throughout, its too bad wait through the regular season to get this caliber of play.

Hell it was pretty damn cold in some of those recent World Series in Detroit when the Tigers made it. Really it would be kind of nice if Spring Training Season could be shortened a little bit to move the playoffs to send sometime Mid-October again. Granted the Dodgers had one game where there was record heat in the current series. Really though, this has been a pretty fantastic series throughout, its too bad wait through the regular season to get this caliber of play.

Why not just end the regular season a month sooner so the series is played in late September or early October at the latest. Baseball should not drag past October 10th. But now it's even going into November that is just nuts.

Hell it was pretty damn cold in some of those recent World Series in Detroit when the Tigers made it. Really it would be kind of nice if Spring Training Season could be shortened a little bit to move the playoffs to send sometime Mid-October again. Granted the Dodgers had one game where there was record heat in the current series. Really though, this has been a pretty fantastic series throughout, its too bad wait through the regular season to get this caliber of play.

Why not just end the regular season a month sooner so the series is played in late September or early October at the latest. Baseball should not drag past October 10th.

That won't happen because of the revenue the 162 regular season games generate. The Spring Training games I wouldn't think would be anywhere nearly as lucrative by comparison given the ticket prices are less in addition to the stadiums being smaller. You could cut a ton of Spring Training or allow expanded rosters for first quarter or a season instead. Granted that would probably require a change in the CBA given I'm fairly certain that it is far less costly to cut/send them back to the minors someone in Spring Training instead of having them on the roster for opening day.

Come to think of it, pretty much all professional pre-seasons are complete crap. Baseball is by far the best given the atmosphere but you still don't get the real product just like football, basketball, or hockey.

Once Fox got ahold of baseball in November in 2001 (thanks to 9/11), they refused to relinquish it. The Series will have games (or at least Game 7, depending on the calendar) from now until eternity. Their advertisers demand it.

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"Oh, so you hate your job? Well, why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called "EVERYBODY!" They meet at the bar." -- Drew Carey

Once Fox got ahold of baseball in November in 2001 (thanks to 9/11), they refused to relinquish it. The Series will have games (or at least Game 7, depending on the calendar) from now until eternity. Their advertisers demand it.

I look at the schedule with a jaded eye. The World Series is the biggest money maker, so you want it on the most advantageous days. Games 6 and 7 are both guaranteed clinchers, so it doesn't matter when you have them, people will watch. Put three more games on the weekend and maximize your viewership - there you have Games 3-5.

Once Fox got ahold of baseball in November in 2001 (thanks to 9/11), they refused to relinquish it. The Series will have games (or at least Game 7, depending on the calendar) from now until eternity. Their advertisers demand it.

I look at the schedule with a jaded eye. The World Series is the biggest money maker, so you want it on the most advantageous days. Games 6 and 7 are both guaranteed clinchers, so it doesn't matter when you have them, people will watch. Put three more games on the weekend and maximize your viewership - there you have Games 3-5.

The World Series used to be a Sat-Sun-Tue-Wed-Thu-Sat-Sun format. College football used to not play night games opposite Game 1 of the WS and the NFL used to not play a night game opposite Game 2. But then the popularity of football shot through the roof and they realized they could make big money playing those nights. WS ratings started getting clobbered by football, and baseball eventually switched their WS format to Tue-Wed-Fri-Sat-Sun-Tue-Wed so that they would have the potential for five games with no competition from football.

All sports have, mostly at the behest of TV, added multiple rounds of playoffs, and thus pushed the seasons further and further outside their logical dates.

The first post merger Super Bowl, played following the 1970 season, was played on January 17th, following 2 rounds of games. 10 years earlier, the NFL Championship was played December 26th, and was the only round there was. This year's game will be played February 4th following 3 rounds of games. While not as weather affected as baseball, playing outdoors in the north in late January is very different than late December.

The World Series was the only round of playoffs until 1969. The 68 World Series, which went 7 games, was over on October 10th. In 69 they added a 5 game league series, and pushed a week later. In 85 the league series went to 7 games. In 95 they added a 5 game division series and another week, and then in 12 they added a faux drama wild card game and another half week. The blunt reality is that, in sports terms, the regular season means far less now, and in real world terms, it gets far colder every week in the north after early October.

Even the indoor sports have gotten greedy. The 1960 Stanley Cup was two rounds and over on April 15th. By 1970 it was a whole month later, ending on May 10th. Today there are four rounds, ending another month later, in mid June. In the 1990s when several teams were still playing in older venues without air conditioning (because they were supposed to be closed up all summer) several teams actually had indoor fog from the reaction of the ice to the hot air.

NBA is the same deal, but who cares about it. They actually try to sell a meaningless practice in Las Vegas as soon as their interminable season is over and then start another season a few weeks after that.

Even "March Madness" ends in April now. Although, most years, the last day of basketball season is the first day of baseball season, which is about right.

It is all just greed, and the greed goes back to the players and their so-called unions. In the early 70s, for example, as SI reported last year, the QB of the Cowboys made about what a mid-career federal prosecutor made, which is about $100K in todays money, and was the highest paid player. Last year he made $16 million dollars.

This is hardly the first time baseball was played in November, although it's quite rare. In fact, the only reason why it was played in November was because it got to Game 7. In 2009, November baseball was guaranteed, as Game 4 was scheduled for November 1. A few other years involved November games because of Games 5 & 6.

Personally, I'm glad they don't play World Series games during the day. #1 - it does limit the ability to watch the games. Yes, ratings matter. But that means the fans can't watch the games anyway due to work and school. Could they play weekend games during the day? Maybe...but TV time is already devoted to football and NASCAR on the weekends. There's even issues with stadium availability. When the Phillies were in the playoffs, the city wouldn't permit a baseball and football game going on at the same time. Even though they have their own stadiums, there simply wouldn't be enough parking for all the cars. Fans hold tickets to both events as well. The MLB and Fox have to take into account numerous other conditions as well when scheduling these games.

This is hardly the first time baseball was played in November, although it's quite rare. In fact, the only reason why it was played in November was because it got to Game 7. In 2009, November baseball was guaranteed, as Game 4 was scheduled for November 1. A few other years involved November games because of Games 5 & 6.

Personally, I'm glad they don't play World Series games during the day. #1 - it does limit the ability to watch the games. Yes, ratings matter. But that means the fans can't watch the games anyway due to work and school. Could they play weekend games during the day? Maybe...but TV time is already devoted to football and NASCAR on the weekends. There's even issues with stadium availability. When the Phillies were in the playoffs, the city wouldn't permit a baseball and football game going on at the same time. Even though they have their own stadiums, there simply wouldn't be enough parking for all the cars. Fans hold tickets to both events as well. The MLB and Fox have to take into account numerous other conditions as well when scheduling these games.

I get that day games on weekdays won't work anymore, but they're still too late. First pitch should never be after 7:30 pm ET on weeknights or 6:30 pm ET on weekends. I get that 7:30 ET is 4:30 PT which may be too early for some working people, but people on the west coast who might miss the first couple innings will still tune in to see the rest of the game. People on the east coast who simply can't stay up until almost midnight to see the end of a game may not tune in at all. For MLB/NHL/NBA, I don't watch a single postseason game unless it is potentially the final game of the championship series unless the White Sox or Blackhawks are involved. It's just too late for me.

Now, I did recently move back to the Central Time Zone after living in Eastern for 13 years, so that may make a difference going forward.

I get that day games on weekdays won't work anymore, but they're still too late. First pitch should never be after 7:30 pm ET on weeknights or 6:30 pm ET on weekends. I get that 7:30 ET is 4:30 PT which may be too early for some working people, but people on the west coast who might miss the first couple innings will still tune in to see the rest of the game. People on the east coast who simply can't stay up until almost midnight to see the end of a game may not tune in at all. For MLB/NHL/NBA, I don't watch a single postseason game unless it is potentially the final game of the championship series unless the White Sox or Blackhawks are involved. It's just too late for me.

Now, I did recently move back to the Central Time Zone after living in Eastern for 13 years, so that may make a difference going forward.

Time is always an issue. This year it kinda worked out for the teams that were playing, as they were in the Central & Pacific time zones.

I admit...I'm not staying up as late as I used to. But that also means I'm not watching 10pm series shows, the 11pm news, 11:30 talk shows, etc. Even if it began at 7:30pm ET, I probably wouldn't watch the end of the games unless my teams were playing.

Parents complain that their kids can't stay up to watch the games, but then they'll take them out of school for the entire day (or week) if they want to do a family outing. Networks aren't oblivious to this, and know they're staying up and watching the games anyway on their bedroom TVs or electronic devices. Ratings, which can look at individual periods of time, tend to back this up.

One problem with adjusting the overall schedule to avoid World Series games in November would be that you don't really want to start the season any earlier because you have some of the same issues relating to weather in northern cities in late March or early April; no doubt they also don't want to compete too much with the NCAA Basketball Tournament. They could probably work it so the World Series would end in October without starting earlier in March if they really wanted, even with the expanded postseason, but the way to do it wouldn't be palatable to the owners: Resume the practice of scheduling traditional doubleheaders. Owners don't like those because it costs them one game's ticket revenue. Day-night, or "separate admission," doubleheaders solve the issue of lost ticket sales, but the CBA prohibits them except for special circumstances like makeup games due to rainouts (or, in 2012, there was one held to correct a scheduling error that violated another part of the CBA). I have no idea whether day-night doubleheaders typically see lower attendance for one of the games than would be the case if the games were played on separate days, but I tend to think that's probably what happens. Doubleheaders probably served an important role in the days of train travel, and of course back then games tended to be played faster because you didn't have the increasing specialization of relief pitchers, lineup changes based on matchups, etc. Games take a lot longer now, which certainly makes the idea of attending a doubleheader somewhat less attractive for a lot of fans. (I enjoy going to baseball games, but I don't think I'd enjoy spending eight to ten hours a day at the ballpark on more than a very rare occasion. I attended every game of the ACC basketball tournament in 2005, the year there were 11 teams, and the ten games in four days proved to be too much basketball.)

The baseball schedule is somewhat more complicated than it might seem because of the CBA provision prohibiting teams from playing 23 consecutive games without a day off. Interleague baseball, which historically wasn't an issue, probably represents a further complication because you have teams playing each other only once during a season, making rescheduling that much harder.

Logged

"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Meanwhile, MLS has a season that runs from March to December, with playoffs beginning in late October. 12 teams in four rounds (two of which are home-and-away series), plus an international break mandated by FIFA.

Hell it was pretty damn cold in some of those recent World Series in Detroit when the Tigers made it. Really it would be kind of nice if Spring Training Season could be shortened a little bit to move the playoffs to send sometime Mid-October again. Granted the Dodgers had one game where there was record heat in the current series. Really though, this has been a pretty fantastic series throughout, its too bad wait through the regular season to get this caliber of play.

Why not just end the regular season a month sooner so the series is played in late September or early October at the latest. Baseball should not drag past October 10th.

That won't happen because of the revenue the 162 regular season games generate. The Spring Training games I wouldn't think would be anywhere nearly as lucrative by comparison given the ticket prices are less in addition to the stadiums being smaller. You could cut a ton of Spring Training or allow expanded rosters for first quarter or a season instead. Granted that would probably require a change in the CBA given I'm fairly certain that it is far less costly to cut/send them back to the minors someone in Spring Training instead of having them on the roster for opening day.

Come to think of it, pretty much all professional pre-seasons are complete crap. Baseball is by far the best given the atmosphere but you still don't get the real product just like football, basketball, or hockey.

I don't see any upside to a season that long. The longer the season goes on the more fatiguing it becomes. I would have a greater interest in the sport if the season wasn't so long. That is why I like football much better one game means a lot more in baseball one game is like yeah the won but it's just one measly little game. Further more having more games does mean more expenses on the team. You have to pay for parking attendants concessions electricity lighting ect. And when you travel on the road you have traveling expenses. This past season I was at a Brewers game on a Friday night the tickets were on sale for the 5 county region and they were playing the Cardinals a division rival yet the stadium was no where near full. So I don't buy that fewer games means lost revenue due to how many unsold seats there are each year having 81 home games per team. Having fewer games means higher attendance for the games you still do have. If you shorten the season to 140 games you can get the world series over by Columbus Day if not sooner.